Iran sentences eight alleged IS members to death

Tehran (AFP) – Iran has sentenced to death eight alleged members of the Islamic State group in connection with deadly twin attacks in Tehran in June last year, the judiciary’s news agency said on Sunday.

The attacks — the first on Iranian soil to be claimed by IS — targeted parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, killing 17 people and injuring dozens.

“The eight defendants have been found guilty of rebellion,” the president of the court said, quoted by Mizan Online.

The trial began on April 28 and those convicted can appeal against the verdict.

Five perpetrators died during the attacks on June 7 last year.

Some of those convicted were found guilty of helping the attackers.

The judiciary’s press agency reported after an initial hearing in late April that 26 people were on trial following arrests after the attacks.

Some of the accused had joined IS abroad before coming back to Iran to carry out the attacks, Mizan Online said.

Iran has provided military support to the Syrian and Iraqi governments in the fight against IS, sending military advisers and Iranian and Afghan “volunteers” to the two countries.